


Life in Sokovia

by WhereverMySITakesMe



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Kid Pietro Maximoff, Kid Wanda Maximoff, Pre-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Starvation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-15
Updated: 2016-07-15
Packaged: 2018-07-24 05:22:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7495488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhereverMySITakesMe/pseuds/WhereverMySITakesMe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pietro's shoulders sagged as he realised he would have to walk two streets to reach the market and the same again to return to Wanda. He just didn't have the strength to drag his weary body that far. It was too much. They were out of options. There was nothing he could do to save his baby sister. His head drooped further until it was resting on hers and he let his eyes close. "I love you, little one. I love you so much." Wanda murmured in response as she finally succumbed to the sleep he had been trying to keep her from. He soon joined her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Life in Sokovia

"Wanda. Wanda!" Pietro shook his sister's shoulders. 

Her eyes opened slowly and looked up at him, seeming unable to focus "What? M'tired" Her voice was slurred.

"Don't go to sleep." His heartbeat felt wrong, so wrong. He could barely find the breath to finish his sentence but he had to keep her awake. "You promised you wouldn't"She was so weak that if she went to sleep he didn't think she would be able to wake again. 

He tried desperately to think how this could have happened, when he had eaten more than her. How could he let her get into such an awful state while he was alright . His brain was too foggy to focus, he couldn't think. He couldn't feel the cold anymore either. The snow looked so soft, like a pile of pillows. He just wanted to rest his head on it and sleep and sleep forever. It was so tempting. It was so, so... Wanda. Wanda needed him. He had to stay with Wanda.

He realised her eyes were lolling shut again. "Little one, stay with me." He tapped her cheek gently until she was looking at him again. 

Pietro tried to talk to her to make her stay awake. But it didn't seem to be working. He didn't know how long they had been sitting there, there were growing blank spots in his memory. He closed his eyes tightly, trying to will the fog out of his head. Had he lost his train of thought halfway through a sentence again? What had he been thinking? He opened his eyes, blinking at the light. Somehow it was finally morning. The market would be opening. There might be food on the ground, stale bread or discarded rotten vegetables. It would be enough to revive them both. He was salivating at the thought of stuffing his mouth with the core of a pear and licking the juice from his fingers.

Then his shoulders sagged as he realised he would have to walk two streets to reach the market and the same again to return to Wanda. He just didn't have the strength to drag his weary body that far. It was too much. They were out of options. There was nothing he could do to save his baby sister. His head drooped further until it was resting on hers and he let his eyes close. "I love you, little one. I love you so much." Wanda murmured in response as she finally succumbed to the sleep he had been trying to keep her from. He soon joined her.

Milk. There was milk on his lips. He felt his tongue lick it off, moving instinctively. More milk, again dabbed onto his lips for him to lick off. Then a bottle of it, held against his mouth for him to sip. And he did. Soon he felt the thick fog start to lift from his mind as the milk nourished his starving body. "Wanda" he said before he had even opened his eyes to identify his saviour "Give some to Wanda. Help her too."

"I will, take it easy." It sounded like a female voice. He opened his eyes, as his strength returned to him. The girl was kneeling in front of him, dipping her fingers in the milk and wiping it onto Wanda's lips. She was young, no older than his twelve years . Alone but her clothes weren't in rags and she seemed to have milk, /food/, she could spare so she must have had parents or someone who cared for her.

"Pietro?" Wanda stirred in his arms "What's happening?"

The girl answered before he could, the fog hadn't lifted entirely and his mind was still slow and unfocused "My name is Zrinka. I am helping you, you fainted, I think. Drink this" Wanda obediently let the liquid trickle between her lips. Pietro felt some of the tension in his chest ease as her eyes became less glazed and she sat up under her own power.

Zrinka took the milk bottle away from her before it was empty "Do you have somewhere you can go?

"The market. I will go and then bring something back for us." How ever kind she was, he doubted she could spare any more food "We will be alright now. Thank you. Thank you so much."

"It is nothing, anyone would have done it" She handed him the rest if the milk, without objection. Perhaps she thought he was going to buy food rather than scavenge it "You will need this if you are going to be walking around. I can stay with Wanda as long as you want. My mother works all day long, she will not know I am not at home"

He gulped down the drink and used the wall to lever himself to his feet. He was still battling light headedness but that was not unusual, he could deal with that. "I will be back as soon as I can. Thank you for saving us."


End file.
